Here is our regular look around the NBA — links to stories worth reading and notes to check out (stuff that did not get its own post here at PBT) — done in bullet point form. Because bloggers love bullet points.

• The Clippers have lost seven of nine and need something to get them back to the potential contender status they were playing at the first couple months of the season… like the return of Chris Paul, for example. He has missed eight of those nine games with a bruised knee. That’s not a coincidence. As good as Eric Bledsoe is — and teams want to trade for him for a reason — the Clippers are 5-5 when CP3 sits and he starts this season. Good news for the Clippers is Chris Paul and Chauncey Billupscould be back by this weekend, reports Arash Markazi at ESPNLosAngeles.com.